Sunday, March 3, 2019

Pakistan Government Split Wide Open Over Abhinandan’s Release

Pakistan Government Split Wide Open Over Abhinandan’s Release

Mainstream opinion looks at IAF pilot's release as a gesture to de-escalate the conflict with India. While sources said within the middle levels of the government, there is criticism about the haste in giving up an ‘asset’ as valuable as the Indian officer

NEW DELHI: There appears to be some dissonance inside Pakistan about the release of IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from their custody to India within 48 hours of his capture, exposing some fault-lines within Pakistan’s infamous “deep state”.

While mainstream opinion looks at it as a gesture to de-escalate the conflict with India, sources said within the middle levels of the government, there is criticism about the haste in giving up an ‘asset’ as valuable as the Indian officer.

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told an interviewer that Pakistan took the decision to repatriate Abhinandan without any pressure. However, diplomatic sources say there was considerable pressure, particularly from the US and Saudi Arabia. In addition, India had made it amply clear to Pakistan that there would be serious escalation of the conflict from the Indian side if Abhinandan was not returned. This included, according to sources, direct communication with “key interlocutors” inside Pakistan.

It’s difficult to say what was the trigger that forced Pakistan to act — importantly, the final decision to release him would have been the Pakistan army’s, not the civilian leadership led by Imran Khan. However, sources said, two things had to be done to keep events under control.

The hostage video of Abhinandan had to be shot before he left Lahore as a step towards assuaging those unhappy with Friday’s developments. Second, a reason for the delay in transferring him from Lahore to Wagah was to ensure that there were no “protests” along the route that could have had a very different outcome in a situation where hawkish elements, upset against the decision to hand over Abhinandan without extracting even a letter of apology from India for sending its fighter IAF jets deep inside Pakistan, were screaming betrayal.